Latin America and Caribbean

Rationing increasingly possible; Stagnant economy slowed consumption

Corruption scandal stymies bond issues; Lack of supply may set stage for others

BRICs hit the economic wall

Brazil has a long and painful struggle ahead to revive its economy. Denial and complacency will not help that process.

Brazil’s banking industry exclaimed loudly that another four years of Dilma Rousseff would be a disaster for the country. Now that she has been re-elected, have the bankers changed their minds?

Strong results across the sector; banking system ‘a source of strength’.

Rising rates deter equity investors; Brazil no longer driving volumes.

The decline of the Brazilian real to a nine-year low this week seemed to mark a nadir for a currency buffeted by economic and political concerns. Analysts say, though, that things could get worse before they get better.

Vital reforms unlikely; next president will inherit inflation headache.

Brazil’s business community wants ‘anyone but Dilma’ as its next president. But Marina Silva will not be able to deliver everything that business, or the country, needs

Incensed by their failure to reform, Brics policymakers have established a flawed rival to the World Bank and IMF. Rhetoric aside, the west dismisses emerging-market dissent over the broken financial architecture at its peril.

It has become normal in Brazil for private-sector banks to express frustration with the scale and cost of BNDES’ presence in financing corporate Brazil. However, given the power of the bank to engage with private-sector financial institutions (either through granting debt lines that are passed through the private banks, or from holding equity stakes in companies that the banks see as clients or potential clients), these criticisms are made off-the-record.

Dilma Rousseff has told Brazil’s public banks to boost the country’s flagging consumption until the elections with double-digit loan growth. Weakening credit quality and capital ratios are worrying analysts.

Private banking clients in Brazil face challenging times, bankers concede. The economy is under pressure and the country could yet suffer stagflation. Furthermore, an unpredictable presidential race leaves markets in limbo. However, bankers are confident their well-educated client base will not over-react, and instead maintain their long-term strategies

Mexico’s energy reforms should kick-start growth in its lacklustre economy while Brazil appears to have no strategic planning in place.

Election campaign delays rationing; ‘pray for rain’ say analysts.

Asset allocation hangs on election result; closing the instrument is good news for private banks.

The Brazilian real has been rising in recent weeks on hopes opposition candidate Marina Silva will beat president Dilma Rousseff in a run-off election in October. With the Brazilian economy faltering and the election outcome still on a knife edge, the real’s outlook – and the country’s macro framework, more generally – remains unclear.

Deal sells at par; incentive to call after five years.

High relative rates draw investors; elections weigh on rally.

Louis Dreyfus to repurchase 90% of deal; firm commitment IPOs under question.

Short-term gains for some energy firms and industrials; longer-term energy strategy review needed.

Will make loan transfers less attractive for banks; technology a main driver of competition.

A lack of rain to fill the dams that power Brazil is becoming a potential crisis. But as experts call for action to protect dwindling reservoirs the government refuses to act, and running the hydrology risk is becoming increasingly dangerous for it.

Markets responded positively to the downgrade of Brazil by Standard & Poor’s. On March 25, the day after the announcement from the rating agency, the Ibovespa climbed and the real gained on the dollar.